The statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between his nation's experience and his vision.
Henry A. Kissinger

The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the other, whom he assumes to have perfect vision.
Henry A. Kissinger

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
Henry A. Kissinger

The Vietnam War required us to emphasize the national interest rather than abstract principles. What President Nixon and I tried to do was unnatural. And that is why we didn't make it.
Henry A. Kissinger

There can't be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
Henry A. Kissinger

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
Henry A. Kissinger

To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.
Henry A. Kissinger

University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.
Henry A. Kissinger

We are all the President's men.
Henry A. Kissinger

We cannot always assure the future of our friends; we have a better chance of assuring our future if we remember who our friends are.
Henry A. Kissinger

Whatever must happen ultimately should happen immediately.
Henry A. Kissinger

While we should never give up our principles, we must also realize that we cannot maintain our principles unless we survive.
Henry A. Kissinger

You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can't make peace without Syria.
Henry A. Kissinger